Parallel
by Lady Timelord
Summary: The Doctor 10 and Rose are grieving in their parallel worlds. Tbc.  Dedicated to David Tennant's mother, R.I.P.
1. Chapter 1

_This story is dedicated to Mrs. Helen McDonald, aka David Tennant's mother, who passed away on Sunday from Bowel Cancer. I've only just found out, and I'm... distraught, put it that way. :'( May she Rest in Peace, and my prayers are with David and his father. If you believe, please pray with me. _

_Just hang with me with this, it's all short, so I've uploaded the first three chapters in one 'chapter'. But hang with it please :o) It was totally unplanned. __Originally, I had one of my jokey kind of A/N but after finding out about the above, I feel it needed to go. Basically, this idea came to me late last night as I was trying to sleep. End of. _

_As always, I don't own anything that you might recognise, it all belongs to the BBC and the lovely Russell T. Davies._

_Spoilers for the whole of Season 3 – including rather large secrets… if you haven't seen it yet, or don't want to know what they are, wait till you've seen it before reading this, I don't want to spoil it for you :o) – but come back and read when you have... please._

_And… before I let you go on, I should probably mention that it's _quite_ angsty…_

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Chapter One: The Spaceman.

A strange man wandered the universe; drifting from planet to planet. Just wandering. At each familiar stop, he walked a bit, sat and thought. Remembered. He sat in silence, face blank, apart from the seemingly permanent tear stains on his freckled cheeks.

His eyes, once full of life, sparkling with joy and happiness and love, now seemed dull and dead. His hearts, once beating merrily with his exuberance, and hammering with love, beat only out of necessity. His hands, once constantly fiddling, and slotting with hers, lay motionless on his thighs. His love, once overwhelming him, flowing through every pore in his body, was all that remained, but his lover, the Doctor's lover was gone. Gone but oh so alive.

He leant forward and rest his head in his hands, the heel of his hands pressed into his eyes, as though trying to push back the tears threatening to tumble gently from them. He took a deep, ragged, breath and let out a single, solemn, word. The only word he'd spoken in so long.

_"Rose."_

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Chapter Two: The Valiant Child.

An odd child roamed the streets of London. As she walked, a few people turned their heads to look at her, her strange appearance endearing. Clad in dark jeans, Converse peaking from the bottom, a brown pinstriped jacket, a good six inches to big for her and a pink t-shirt, she looked the epitome of mad. But she didn't care. She dressed in a way so she would never forget. He always wore a pinstriped suit, one thing about him as clear as day in the picture of him she had in her mind from that day on the beach. Her blonde hair exactly as it was that day, shoulder length, with a side parting, flowing gracefully around her face. As was custom, her roots needed touching up, but that was how he remembered her, it would stay like that. His Rose.

No longer living there herself, she wandered into the Powell Estate and sat on the bench she had sat on that time he sent her home. She stared at the wall where the words 'Bad Wolf' had been spray painted, pleading for them to remain, her one link back to the Doctor. She knew they wouldn't, but the small amount of hope of them being reunited was all that kept her going.

She sat, hands resting on her knees she breathed in deeply and let her eyes drift shut as a single tear broke free and tumbled down her soft cheek. There was no message. There was no hope. There was no way back.

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Chapter Three: The Oncoming Storm.

He walked back to the TARDIS, head down, hands thrust deep in his pockets, meandering through the streets of London. He had parked it where he usually did when they used to park in the Powell Estate, and had wandered around old haunts. He didn't look up until he reached the door, and pulling the key from his pocket he unlocked the door and slid inside. He went to the console and walked around it, pressing various buttons and twisting dials and the time rotor hummed into motion, but not with the same feeling as it used too. She was subdued, just like her Doctor. Since Rose, both Martha and Donna had left, he was alone once again; left to grieve.

Grieving was something the Doctor didn't do well. After the Time War, he didn't cope well. He had destroyed his entire race just to destroy the Daleks, and for nothing. The Daleks survived. Even now, all these years on, he hadn't come to terms with what he had done, and after discovering they had survived, the pain inside him intensified. Then he lost Rose because of them. He remembered saying once _"They always survive, while I lose everything."_ And it was so true. He lost his people, and then he lost Rose.

Being alone again, he thought of the old times. He thought of before the war. He remembered Susan. He remembered Sarah Jane. He remembered those few occasions where himself and previous incarnations were together. He remembered the war. He remembered pressing that button. He remembered the fall of Arcadia. He remembered meeting Rose, saving her from the Autons in the basement of Henriks. He remembered falling in love with her, despite trying his hardest not too. He remembered all their adventures before he regenerated. Dickens, Slitheen, Jack. Oh Jack. A few years on, and he was still trying to come to terms with Jack being the Face of Boe. He remembered the Daleks, and him regenerating. He remembered the Cybermen, the Beast, the battle… He remembered the Daleks evolving. Remembered Jack's secret. Remembered being human. He remembered the Master, remembered him dying in his arms as he cried over the loss of his one last piece of hope that he wasn't alone. He remembered the Titanic just afterwards.

He sat in the 'Captain's Chair' and bought his knees to his chest wrapping his arms securely around them, the way Rose used to do, and rested is forehead on them, no longer able to stop the tears. He sobbed, tears streaming unabashedly down his face into his trousers. The TARDIS lights dimmed, lowering to the tone of the atmosphere within her.

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	2. Chapter 2

_The Crab Nebula does exist, and is the biggest… I looked it up :o)_

_I do apologise a lot for the delay in this. I blame sheer awful organisation on my part, and starting a new job and being worn out… I'm also so bad at keeping promises… I said this would be up days ago… sorry! And it's angsty again... but a little bit lighter..._

_Raxacoricofallapatorious beta'd... I hope…_

_(Yup, I beta'd, and this is so sweet, so review...or...erm... Dalek Caan will come and exterminate you!! Raxacoricofallapatorious xx)_

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Chapter Four: The Bad Wolf

Rose walked through the door to the Tyler mansion and slumped up the stairs to her bedroom. Strictly speaking, it was her own wing of the house, she had a bedroom, bathroom, the equivalent of a sitting room and a small kitchenette. She walked in, the room dark, lights off and the thick, dark curtains pulled permanently over the windows. She sat down on the sofa and toed off her trainers with some difficulty, bringing her feet up next to her, and sidling down the sofa and lying her head down on the arm, her legs bought up to her close, her pinstriped suit jacket draping over the bottom and thighs and encasing her hands. It had been a bad day, and she let the tears flow, falling sideways down her face to pool on the soft fabric of the sofa. She let her eyes drift close and felt the tears snake out slightly.

Eyes closed, memories flashed before her, flitting in and out of her minds eye. She remembered, saw as if it was happening right then. Him telling her she looked beautiful… for a human when they met Dickens. That goofy grin of his, smiling away at her and holding her close when she managed to say "Raxacoricofallapatorious". She remembered Jack, in all his ex Time Agent flirty-ness. She remembered the Bad Wolf. She remembered his regeneration and her feeling so alone as he lay unconscious. She remembered Cassandra possessing them both. She remembered the cybermen, the Beast, the battle… she remembered falling. She remembered Pete catching her, and then being stuck on the parallel planet. She remembered the beach. Her last memory of him, was stood on a beach in Norway, him stood by her, but being millions, trillions of miles away. _"...and I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it… Rose Tyler…" _she remembered him fading before being able to say what she hoped he would say. _"I love you"_. Three words. Three simple words she needed to hear. But never could, not from him. A sob emitted from her and she rolled her head slightly, burying her head in the arm of the sofa, trying to cry away the pain.

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Chapter Five: The TARDIS.

If she could have sighed, and cried she would have. But she was a Time Machine, machine being the operative word. She may well be a sentient being, but there were limits. She did her best though, lowering the lights in the console room, her Doctor was currently sobbing in, to match the mood. She was quiet and subdued as she entered the Time Vortex to drift meaninglessly until the Doctor took them elsewhere.

But the TARDIS had other ideas.

She had continued to search for a way to Rose, unrelenting in her task. Not for her, but for her Doctor. Although, if she was honest, she did miss Rose's presence, but she missed the Doctor's happiness more. He was almost a part of her, and when he was devastated, as he currently was, so was she. Unbeknown to the Doctor, she had found a way. She had discovered a tiny gap, a miniscule crack in the universe. The TARDIS knew that if she could get the power, she could make it just big enough to get through. To get to Rose.

Her Doctor had ceased crying on the chair, letting out a pitiful, dry, throaty sob occasionally. She had refrained from doing anything, until now, knowing the dangers of opening the void, being careful not to destroy both universes, but seeing the Doctor, alone, destroyed, she decided it was time. She shifted in the vortex. She was going to the biggest supernova known. The 'Crab Nebula'.

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Chapter Six: The Lonely Angel.

A change in the pitch of the TARDIS engines made the Doctor stir. Still in the same position from the night before, knees hugged up to his chest, he raised his head, his eyes still slightly puffy and his cheeks tearstained. He frowned slightly at the console. He'd set coordinates to the vortex, wanting nothing more to sit in the cold and the dark of nothingness for a while. But the monitor claimed that they were heading to Earth again; the TARDIS was overriding the Doctor. The furrows on his brow deepened as he slid from the chair and moved to the console, leaning on it with one hand, the other wiping the sleep and dried tears from his eyes, clearing his vision. His right hand slipped into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out his glasses, which he placed on his nose, and as he looked at the monitor, the data appearing in Gallifreyan changed. He let out a choked sob, through a half smile appearing on his face. A smile of disbelief. More tears flowed from his eyes, and cascaded slowly down his cheeks, refreshing the tear tracks. But they were different. For the first time in so long; they were tears of joy.


	3. Chapter 3

_So this is the end of this! I got it finished tonight at long last, so please enjoy, and excuse me while I promptly whoop!_

_WHOOP!_

_Bubblez beta'd of course, and please do pay attention to her :P lol (you don't reeally have to if you reeally don't want to, but it reeally is much appreciated. Reeeally.) :o)_

**I beta'd so haha I know the story :P it's amazing. Seriously. And if you don't review the Master will be back, and he won't even look like John Simm. So review. But don't flame. Or I'll beat you with things. Love Bubblez xxx**

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Chapter Seven: The Defender of the Earth.

Rose awoke to a sliver of bright white sunshine peering through an infinitesimal gap between the thick curtains hanging lifelessly at the windows, which was shining straight into her eyes. She was still curled up on the sofa in her normal attire, having cried herself to sleep again for the numerous times since the beach.

She forced herself to sit up, moving the sun from her eyes and knowing what the day would bring her. But all that did was make her want to stay where she was. But his voice echoed through her mind, full of pride and hope, and love._"Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth"_. Jackie was completely right when she claimed that Rose was beginning to look like him, only now it was truer than ever. Rose realised she was like her old Doctor more, she was colder, full of angst. Her old self was like her Doctor.

With a quick change of underwear, and a comb pulled swiftly through her hair, Rose left for Torchwood.

For the last time.

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Chapter Eight: The Universes. 

Before the Time War, it was possible to pop between a real universe and its parallel, and still be home in time for tea. But then Gallifrey burnt. Then the Timelords died. Then the walls of reality were sealed.

Then the Doctor met Rose. Then the last Timelord, the mighty Doctor was pulled back from the brink. She saved him.

And they travelled. They met plenty of Aliens, friends, enemies, allies; they visited dozens and dozens of planets in their time. But the TARDIS died. She fell from the Vortex stranding them in Earth's parallel universe. But they got home.

More travelling, more aliens, more planets. More love. The Doctor and Rose got closer, everyone, even a blind man could see their unspoken love. Everyone but the Doctor and Rose.

_But then came the army of ghosts. Then came Torchwood and the War. And that's when it all ended._

That's when Rose died. That's when the Doctor died. That's when all the hope in the world; died.

A two minute goodbye was all that could be managed before the worlds resealed; forever.

Until now.

Chapter Nine: The Last of the Timelords. 

The Doctor fell to his knees at the console, sobbing. His legs had given way with hope and joy and sheer disbelief. And fear. The TARDIS lurched and the ended up sprawled on the grating, hoping against hope that this wasn't the end. He'd gone from feeling dead inside, his hearts shattered, his life force evaporated, to feeling more alive than he had felt since before Torchwood.

And then she landed. Alive.

The Doctor pulled himself to the monitor and closed his eyes, his lips mumbling half forgotten words of prayer and hope. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes.

A zeppelin. He was there.

Chapter Ten: Parallel. 

Rose dragged her feet along the road, her feet knowing the path, taking her places on autopilot. She blanked out the world. She had dreamt last night, remembered all the things her and the Doctor had done, thought of things she wished they had. She kept her head down, and made her mind wander to work, forced out of the pain of the Doctor.

She blanked out the noises around her, hearing only a faint jabber of people passing her on the street, the engines of the cars as they sped past, the sirens in the background, and the whoosh and sound of the universe.

The wind of its landing swept dust and leaves past her feet. Her hair blew back from her face, and she looked up from the floor, and saw the light.

The white light of the TARDIS faded in an out of focus as it materialised in front of her. It was ignored by the people passing by, but Rose stood stock still, eyes wide in shock.

It was there. Big, blue and incongruous, but so totally right. But still no one paid attention to the new scenery. Apart from Rose.

She closed her eyes. Lowered her head and took a deep breath, prepared to see nothing when she raised her head.

Slowly, she raised her chin from her chest and opened her eyes. It was still there. And so was he. So was the Doctor.

…

He walked to the door, and took a deep breath. He opened it, and took a tentative step out. She stood there in front of him, his Rose. Her chin was on her chest, her hands encased in a brown pinstripe jacket, which covered a pink top. He could tell her roots needed doing, and saw a pair of converse peeking from the bottom of her dark jeans.

Then she looked up and saw him.

He let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding, as he saw a tear drip from her eye and glide down her cheek. He took a step forward and cradled her cheek as her jaw dropped in shock, and he brushed away the tear.

Her arms wrapped around his waist as she buried her face in his chest, and hebought his arms around her.

And the two parallel worlds; became one.


End file.
